Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My apologies, Mr Acting Deputy President. I should not let myself stray from my line of thought. As I was saying, many of those schools were for so long neglected during the Howard years. We are introducing a national curriculum to ensure that all students are achieving their full potential. We introduced the $2.5 billion Smarter Schools National Partnerships, which will be delivered over seven years to help support up to 1,500 schools of low socioeconomic status across the country.

These are just a few of the many reforms we have implemented. We are also helping Australian families with back-to-school expenses by encouraging an estimated 1.3 million families to take advantage of the $4.4 billion education tax refund scheme. Eligible families can claim refunds on a range of back-to-school items, including computer equipment and textbooks. I know that will come in handy for many families. Families can also claim 50 per cent of eligible education expenses—up to $794 for high-school children and $397 for primary school children.

The government is also delivering on its commitment to build a $43 billion National Broadband Network. All Australian homes, businesses, schools and hospitals, no matter where they are located in Australia, will be able to benefit from affordable high-speed broadband services. This access will be at a rate that is 1,000 times faster than that which many people can experience today. In my home state of Tasmania we have already had three towns—Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point—receiving high-speed broadband services for the first time. We now have a take-up rate for fibre connection that exceeds 50 per cent, and after only a few months. The take-up of these services already exceeds the annual rate that the McKinsey-KPMG implementation study concluded would be needed to make the NBN viable with affordable prices for consumers.

In Tasmania we are also progressing towards connecting more than 11,000 homes as part of the stage 2 rollout of the NBN. Construction work has also begun on the first five release sites, in Armidale in New South Wales, Townsville in Queensland, Willunga in South Australia, Minnamurra-Kiama Downs in New South Wales and Brunswick in Victoria. The government's plan is for 19 second release sites to have fibre deployed in 2011.

We are also introducing major economic reform by taking action on climate change to build a clean energy future. The time for inaction has passed and the time for delay is over. The time to take action is upon us. That is what the Gillard Labor government are doing. We have a plan to tackle climate change by placing a price on carbon. It is imperative for the future of our economy and our environment that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and begin to transition our economy to a clean energy future. We know that greenhouse gas emissions are causing the world's climate to change and we must take action.